Grant Fuzi
, a banking partner who runs Allen & Overy in Australia, has done hundreds of triathlons, more than he can remember. But his first ironman was a race he will never forget.

The Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship, in Melbourne in March, was painful for each of the 1600 competitors. But for Fuzi it was much worse, given he completed the 180 kilometre ride and ran the marathon with a broken foot.

Over 22 years competing in Olympic-distance triathlons (a 1.5 kilometre swim, 40 kilometre cycle and 10 kilometre run), Fuzi initially thought you would have to be mad to do an ironman. But a year ago, as he was flying to London to meet with fellow partners of the Magic Circle law firm, Fuzi flicked onto a video of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott competing in the 2010 Port Macquarie Ironman. The sight of the alternative prime minister in budgie smugglers stirred Fuzi’s competitive spirits. “I thought if Abbott could do it, I can do it," he says. “It became a box I knew I had to tick."

Each weekday morning for the next six months Fuzi, 47, did 1½ hours’ swimming, running or cycling; he then rode for five hours on Saturdays and ran 30 kilometres on Sundays. He was swimming 8 kilometres, riding 230 kilometres and running 50 kilometres a week, often in a squad. The camaraderie urged him on. “It’s an individual race, but it’s a team sport," he says of ironman.

The top 75 finishers in Melbourne, across different age groups, would qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. Fuzi was keen to make the cut. “It was audacious to think I would get into Hawaii, but I knew I had a shot," he says.

Those plans were dashed – only just – when, after the 3.8 kilometre swim, Fuzi smashed his foot against a competitor’s bike as he was taking his bike from the rack. The impact broke his fifth metatarsal.

Given the break was just behind a strap on his shoe, Fuzi finished the ride with some discomfort then embarked on the run. The pain got worse. Fuzi says he didn’t initially connect; he thought an old Achilles tendon injury was flaring up. But at the 26 kilometre mark, his foot went numb and Fuzi sat down. He thought he couldn’t finish.

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But the doubts faded. “I’ve got a mental gear which just says to keep going. That’s just who I am," Fuzi says. He got up, crossing the line in 9 hours and 48 minutes – 15 minutes outside the qualifying time for Hawaii.

The next morning, when Fuzi’s wife, Naomi, and his three kids woke him for breakfast, he couldn’t walk. The doctors were flabbergasted when they looked at the X-rays and heard about the damage inflicted on the foot.

Fuzi remains undecided about doing it again next March. An ironman is “mind-numbingly boring. It’s a great event to finish, but an awful event to do".

The training is also a big impost on family, yet if any wife would be approving it would be Naomi. She knows the power it has on her husband.

Three years ago, after Fuzi had qualified for the World Triathlon Championships, Naomi was diagnosed with breast cancer. When Fuzi rang Triathlon Australia to withdraw, the woman who answered said, “I know what you’re going through," explaining her mother had just won a battle with cancer. “We will support you," she said, encouraging him to keep his spot. Fuzi continued and found the training cathartic: the pain was nothing compared with what Naomi was going through. “I am a believer that sport is a massive contributor to your mental well-being," he says.

Naomi underwent a double mastectomy four weeks before the race. When her doctors told Fuzi her glands were clear, he cried. “The surgeons hugged me. I will never forget that."

The next month on the Gold Coast, with Naomi watching, Fuzi did his best time: 2 hours and 15 seconds. “I was not going into the race thinking about winning or losing. Nothing that happened that day could have knocked me off."